


His Gotham

by Evilpixie



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Drama, Emotional Hurt, Established Relationship, M/M, Sad, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-04
Updated: 2013-09-04
Packaged: 2017-12-25 14:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/954135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilpixie/pseuds/Evilpixie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clark flies into Gotham to tell his lover, Bruce, something important. But the Batman only has eyes for his city.</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Gotham

His city woke for the night. Glass faced towers, stretching from the sky to the earth, blazed to life; neon flashed in a multicoloured grin along the nightlife district; and a single spotlight swung skyward, staining the thick light poisoned cloud cover with his symbol.

Gotham.

Clark slid unnoticed between the buildings; a drifting flicker of red and blue lost against the darkened sky. He doubted anyone would have seen him anyway. Heads down, coats drawn tight around hunched bodies, and feet moving too quickly against cracked pavement. No one looked up here unless it was at the signal; and the people that did that weren't the kind to be happy to see a passing superhero.

Gotham.

He could never see the beauty in it he knew others marvelled at. Could never see the Gothic rooftops marriage with modern industrial style as something other than a city eating itself alive. He could never see it the way _he_ did. He could never see it other than a sick, sorry, mass of people limping on against all odds. Against the vibrant pop criminal culture, against the savage ugly nature of the streets, and against their own shadow fed fears.

Humans weren't meant to live in a city like this. They weren't meant to live in the dark.

But Bruce loved this city. His city. He loved his Gotham more than anything else in the world.

The thought hurt him. More than it should have.

It took longer than expected to find him. Flying between the rooftops, swooping down the streets, and listening all the while for the tell tale purr of the Batmobile. When he did find him Bruce was balanced on the edge of Wayne Enterprises scanning the streets below like a vulture looking for a kill. Cape flew behind him in waves.

“Bruce.”

“Superman.”

Clark sighed. “We’re alone, Bruce. I checked.”

“I’m working.” It was spoken with the curt blunt sounds of a dismissal.

“I know,” Clark said, “but I need to talk to you.”

Bruce didn’t turn to face him. Eyes only for Gotham. “Contact me when I’m next in the Watchtower, Superman.”

“I… I don’t want to do it there. Not with the League being… too many of them have super hearing now. I don’t want to risk being over heard.” A grim smile. “No one comes into your city. They're scared of you.”

Bruce didn’t answer. Didn’t move to face him. Didn’t look away from people spotted streets, the blue and red flash of police sirens, or the rotten mess of a city spread out below him. His Gotham.  Clark sucked in a sharp, nervous, breath of air.

“Bruce, it’s about Lois.”

Still no answer.

“She’s… I mean… she and I…”

“What do you want, Clark?”

It was the first time he’d used his name. Clark felt his already fragile resolve falter. “I… Bruce I…” he felt like there was a lump of kryptonite caught in the back of his throat. Every breath rasped against it, every word squeezed by it, and every moment Bruce denied him it only got bigger. “Bruce I…”

“What do you want?”

“Bruce I… I’m going to marry her.”

Still Bruce didn’t answer. Still he didn’t turn to face him. Still he watched Gotham.

“Bruce?”

Silence.

“Bruce?”

“Congratulations.” The tone had not changed. A detached dismissal.

Clark felt tears fall from his eyes but he didn’t wipe them away. What was the point when Bruce didn’t even turn around to look at him?

“I’m really sorry.”

…

“I just… you and I. You never… you were never there, Bruce. You were always here.”

…

“Bruce, I love you more than anything but… Bruce?”

Something had caught his eye, some movement in the building opposite. Batman reached up, tapped the transceiver in the side of his mask and spoke.

“Robin, Tony Lincerno has just arrived with four men. Johnny Frost isn’t with him. I’ll give you two minutes to move into position before I follow. See if you can get a closer look at those men. Do any of them look like the men you saw last week?”

_“Sure thing Batman,”_ a voice responded from within the cowl.  _“But there has been some activity over this side as well. I’ve seen some of the thugs from the old gang that used to lurk nearby. What where they called? The ones that wore blue stripes? I don’t remember. But yeah,_ something _is going on in there. Just a heads up.”_

Somewhere beyond the far building Clark heard the faint sound of a grabble gun being fired. He waited. Bruce didn’t make a sound.

“Bruce, I know this is sudden but I feel we’ve been drifting apart…” he stopped. His voice was breaking, betraying him. And still Bruce didn’t turn around. Still all he could see of his friend, of the man he had loved for so long, was the billowing black cape crowned by the sharp mask of the Bat. “Bruce?” A low, defeated, croak of sound. “Please Bruce.”

“Congratulations, Superman.” The rough growl of the Batman. He did not look up, he did not turn around.

It was too much. Clark turned around and leapt into the air with a furious snarl of pain. He flew away from the dark twisted city, from the towers that clawed at the sky, and the grinning neon lights. He flew away from the wailing sirens, the looming signal in the clouds, and the man he’d loved. Tears froze on his cheeks and rained down behind him.

He ripped through the atmosphere and tore upwards towards the warm glow of Sol. The sun. Always facing him. Always open. Always honest. Always there. In her warm, loving, sight he cried.

 ---

_“Batman? Where are you? You_ did _say two minutes, right?”_

Bruce hadn’t moved. Staring sightlessly down upon his city. His Gotham. Standing bright against the swirling darkness overhead. Standing despite the rotten foundations she stood on. Standing, despite all that sought to bring her down.

_“Batman?”_

He couldn’t move. If he did he would break. He could already feel the ache in his chest as he began to come apart. He was cracking. Crumbling. A low agonized moan slipped through his lips.

_“Batman? Can you read me?”_

But he couldn’t break. Like Gotham, his Gotham, he needed to stand strong despite the pain eating him from inside. Like his city he needed to keep moving forward despite it all.

_“Oracle, I can’t get through to Batman. He should be here by now.”_

_“On it. Batman? This is Oracle. Can you hear me? … His belt signal indicates he’s on Wayne Enterprises.”_

_“That was where he was before. Hold on. I’ll ditch this and…”_

“No,” Bruce growled. “Stay with Lincerno.”

_“Bru- Batman! What happened? Are you alright?”_

No. Nothing felt alright. Nothing right. But that didn't matter. That hadn't mattered for a long time now. Not since bloody pearls rained into a muddy puddle on the edge of crime ally. Not since a flaming warehouse took his soldier, Jason, as it fell to the ground. Not since Clark flew away with that heart stopping cry of anger and pain...

No. It hurt, he hurt, but it didn't matter. For his Gotham... he would endure all else.

“Stay with Lincerno. Find out what he’s planning.”

He stood, squeezed the trigger on his grapple and swung into the air, sliding perfectly down his cord until he landed silently on the rooftop of the far building. With practised persision he moved silently across the building, scanning for the vent he knew would be there. His way in.

“I’m fine.” It was a hollow lie.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first ever piece of fanfiction originally posted on another site. If you have any comments or feedback I would love to hear them. Otherwise, thanks for reading.


End file.
